On May 22, Medet Unlu, permanant representative of the Chechen Republic of Ichkera in Turkey, was assassinated treacherously in his office in Ankara.

This is the second murder in the last few years of ethnic Chechens who are Turkish citizens and represented the interest of their people. I don’t even count the eight other murders of citizens of the Chechen Republic of Ichkeria. First, the supervisor of the Kahramanmaras Chechen Committee, Necdet Gun was murdered brutally at his work place. Both, Medet and Necdet were members of the old Chechen diaspora which was established after the emigration of Chechens at the end of Russian-Caucasus wars of the 19th century.

Officialy, Turkey doesn’t accept Chechens as refugees, even though most Chechens arrived to seek refuge from Russian aggression, and this attitude makes them helpless. To this point, these Chechen Committees helped them with housing and providing food. Necdet didn’t limit himself to the Chechen asylum seekers in his own city, but he often brought humanitarian aid to Chechen asylum seekers in Istanbul, too.

Medet’s field was wider. Despite the fact that there were two Chechen committees in Istanbul, almost all important issues were addressed in Ankara, the capital city. Thus, Medet shuttled betwen Istanbul and Ankara, he participated in almost all of the activities related to the Chechen issue. He was sincere and straightforward, he was a worthy representative of his people. The main value in his life was honor. He was a highly educated and intelligent man who spoke Turkish and Chechen flawlessly. He had power, and he used his influence on the Turkish government and he organized mass protests against the massacre of the civilian population in Chechnya in the capital of Turkey, and he assured the highest level participation as party leaders, parliamentarians etc… During the first Russian-Chechen war, he was a frequent visitor to the General Representation of the Chechen Republic of Ichkeria in Istanbul and during these visits, he was visiting the office of the Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan who was the mayor of Istanbul at the time.

Medet’s door was open and accessible to anyone who needed help. Chechen asylum seekers who had problems with the authorities with visas, came to him. In Turkey, even if you have entered with a valid visa, you were arrested by the law enforcement officers and your extradition followed your detention, if it expired. You would also get a ban on entry equal to three times more than your valid visa term. But Medet was not just saving his countrymen from prisons, he was also getting them 3-6 month visas.

Turkey’s current President Abdullah Gul, and Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan had known him for a long time, and before they came to power, they had respect for Medet Unlu. But will these memories and good relations have an impact on a successful investigation or will justice prevail over the political interest of Turkish state, we don’t know, it is difficult to predict.

A great Chechen diplomat, a true warrior was killed…

Why was Medet assassinated? Because he didn’t remain indifferent to the suffering of his people? Maybe they wanted to cut off the help for his compatriots away from their homeland, so there will be no one and they will not have any more help? Or, because Medet didn’t recognize the puppet regime in Chechnya?

And who ordered this murder? Someone surely nods to Grozny, someone to Moscow, but there is no difference. One thing is clear, this barbaric action lies on a criminal state.

Press reports say that Turkish law enforcement officers work to establish the assassin, but observors say that if the allegations on the identity of the perpetrator of Medet’s murder is correct, the result of this investigation will be disappointing. This last action also will be safely put into the archives.

Dala gazot kobal doyla xhan, Medet!

Satsita Asueva
26.05.2013

*Text was translated by Waynakh Online and edited by Michael Capobianco